It's hard enough to make a true independent film, but Thomas Farone overcame obstacles that would make even the most persistent indie directors cry uncle.

With a good chunk of his neo-noir thriller "Aftermath" left to shoot, Farone turned on the TV and saw that one of his lead actors, Chris Penn, had died at age 40. It was January 2006.

"He really brought it," Farone said of Penn, brother of Sean, and a successful actor in his own right ("Footloose," "Pale Rider," "Reservoir Dogs"). "He was bringin' it every day. He was coming at (his role) the right way. He was really talking a lot about character development. He was a total professional."

It took seven years of persistence, but "Aftermath" is finally ready for its world premiere Friday night at Cinequest, the 23rd annual festival in San Jose. It will also show Sunday and Tuesday in the festival, which is in its 23rd year and will screen 188 films from 44 countries - 80 of them either world or U.S. premieres.

After Penn's death, Farone, who shot the film in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., where he lives, took a year off to rewrite - about 75 percent of the film had been shot - and plan reshoots.

What made the reshoots complicated were the packed schedules of the cast members - Anthony Michael Hall (as a construction boss who has been threatened by Penn, an ex-con and former employee), Tony Danza (as an underworld figure Hall turns to for guns and backup), Frank Whaley (as a pal of Penn's) and several others - most of them based on the opposite coast.

Then another key cast member, Leo Burmester (who plays the sheriff), died in 2007 at age 63.

"Then Frank Whaley, his first shot (of the reshoots), he falls and breaks his rib, so that day's all gone," Farone said. "We shot up until about 2010. ... We would line up blocks (of days actors were available) and shoot a week, eight days and get what we need."

It took about a year to edit, and then Farone had to wait still further until his first-choice composer, David Kitay, became available.

Farone was just a young man in his 20s riding the momentum of his first indie film, "Nate Dogg" (2003), when he started "Aftermath." Now he's a wizened, grizzled veteran of 37.

With three scripts ready to film.

"I'd like to be filming in L.A. or filming for studios," Farone said. "I would like to be not as independent with this next one, to have some studio money behind it."

Farone has no regrets, however. Penn delivers a terrific performance, and the writer-director says he learned a lot from him.

"He's really great in the film, he had so many ideas," Farone said. "Aw, man, I wish he was around to see it."